It was the middle of summer, and while other kids played in the sun, one 8-year-old boy refused to take off his winter hat. Nurse Sofia noticed him right away—his heavy coat, thick pants, and that same wool hat he’d been wearing for months.
She tried to ask him about it, but he flinched, gripping the hat like his life depended on it.
His teacher was worried too. “He started wearing it after spring break,” she told Sofia. “He freaked out when we asked him to take it off. We just let it go.”
But Sofia couldn’t let it go. She called the boy’s father, who snapped at her to mind her own business. “It’s a family matter,” he growled before hanging up.
Then, one afternoon, the boy stumbled into the nurse’s office, pale and shaking. “It hurts,” he whimpered, clutching his head.
Sofia closed the door and promised to help. As she carefully removed the hat, her stomach turned. His scalp was covered in raw, open wounds—some old, some fresh.
“Daddy said I was bad,” the boy whispered. “The hat was so no one would know.”
The police were called. The father was arrested. And the boy’s mother, who had been too afraid to speak, finally told the truth.
Now, they’re rebuilding their lives—away from fear, away from pain. The hat is gone, but the lesson remains: sometimes, the bravest thing you can do is ask for help.
